danielHeadShotOne of my students was complaining to me about the action on her piano. The instrument is from the bargain line of a well know, high end, builder of pianos. Later in the week, she emailed me that the tuner had walked out the door with her entire action. There is quite a lesson in what Daniel Ley and his technicians found. 

One of life’s greatest lessons is that while two things may look identical, they are not cut from the same cloth. The same thing applies to today’s pianos.

Recently we had an owner who was having complications with her piano. We went through our regular routine of sending out a tuner in hopes that a tuning would do the trick. While the tuner was there, she started looking at the action and was able to diagnosis the problem as something much bigger than a tuning or a foreign object.

When she came back to the shop, she brought the action back with her so we could get a closer look. Our technicians were able to look closely and realize that the problem started way back with the manufacturing. A small pin was failing. Why was it failing? Because it was put in at an angle while it was being assembled.

Luckily, it was a simple enough fix but something a homeowner couldn’t have done anything to prevent. It all came back to the manufacturer being sloppy at the time of assembly and the customer being the one to deal with the consequence.

Like we say in the piano shop, “It’s like buying an automotive part at your local store. You get two options. You get the not-so-well known version with a limited warranty or you can purchase the brand name with a heftier warranty. It’s all up to you.”

Daniel Ley

Daniel Ley is the owner of Ley Piano Company in Tucson Arizona, where he carries on a tradition of quality piano care, service, and restoration. In addition to full service piano care, he and his craftsmen build their own modern American grand piano, Monserrat. 

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